1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a negative electrode active material including nanometal particles and super-conductive nanoparticles and a lithium battery including the negative electrode active material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, lithium secondary batteries have drawn attention for use as power sources for portable, small electronic devices. As lithium secondary batteries use an organic electrolyte, the lithium secondary batteries have a discharge voltage that is twice or greater than that of conventional batteries using an aqueous alkali electrolyte, and thus have high energy density.
Lithium-transition metal oxides, such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiNi1-xCOxO2 (0<x<1), which have a structure that allows intercalation of lithium ions, are typically used as positive electrode active materials for lithium secondary batteries.
Carbonaceous materials in various forms, such as artificial graphite, natural graphite and hard carbon, which allow intercalation and deintercalation of lithium ions, and non-carbonaceous materials, such as silicon (Si), have been studied for use as negative electrode active materials. Such non-carbonaceous materials exhibit a very high capacity that is ten times or greater than that of graphite. However, the cycle lifetime characteristics thereof deteriorate due to volumetric expansion and shrinkage of the negative electrode active material during charging and discharging.